A Day Out in London, Terence Donovan, Bao and the London Design Biennale

Terence Donovan appears to have photographed everyone worth photographing, he was ‘operating at the heart of London’s swinging sixties’ the exhibition bumpf told us, and there are so many wonderful photos – Twiggy, Debbie Harry, Cindy Crawford, Joanna Lumley, he even photographed Princess Diana at a later date.

It’s a nice exhibition, lots of photographs blown up to huge proportions, videos of Donovan speaking about his work (he has one of those old school East End accents, he grew up in the East End of London and never left) and also his log books for each shoot, he was very organised. It’s so nice to see it actually written on paper, rather than soullessly recorded in outlook. I got the impression from the exhibition that Donovan ‘lived’ photography, it’s what he did day in, day out. His photographs really are incredibly enjoyable to look it.

It’s fun to see the faces of well known stars, and I also enjoyed the many magazine covers. The captions are always amusing, I love how dated the ideas, they are proposing to their readers, often are. And it’s interesting to see which covers the curators have chosen to out of the hundreds that must exist. I also really enjoyed a photo story entitled ‘The Lay About Life’ taken in 1960, which documented the living quarters of a commune of artists.

After, we had lunch in the new Bao near Goodge Street (I can’t get enough of their buns), and then a flying visit to the London Design Biennale at Somerset House. We liked Lebanon’s design, they had backgammon boards set up. Athough we had no time to stop and play, we did take a nice photo in Albania’s ‘Bliss’.

Alice xxx

Greeted by TwiggyArrived at the exhibitionHi CindyAnd as a magazine

Log booksPageMore loggingSt Martins alumni..Great earrings TwiggyAnd Tatler!Hey Debbie🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒I loved his negativesThis is who they all areHe put a hole with a pencil through each negative once the photo was usednegativepositiveI want her dress pleasefamily affairAnd Terence himself!Altogetherfashion illustrationsLife in LondonStill working it outBlue denim worn by a blondeReading Lawrence DurrellA great shotClose up 🍍 juiceSultryLeaf reflectionsThe Lay About Life